Forest Products Industry

A forestry innovation organisation focusing on breeding, researching and developing durable eucalypts is seeking investors to help further research. Source: Farmers Weekly New Zealand Dryland Forests IP Ltd was set up in July 2022 by New Zealand Dryland Forests Innovation (NZDFI) to separate commercial activities from the broader focus of NZDFI’s research and development program. The board of NZDFIP Ltd is now seeking expressions of interest from the forest industry for a limited offer sale of shares in the company and support for its ongoing research and development program. “After 15 years of research and breeding progress, we are ready to invite industry partners to come on board,” said Shaf van Ballekom, chair of NZDFI and general manager of Proseed NZ, Australasia’s largest tree seed producer. “Advances in tree breeding take many decades, as does the research and education that goes with delivering what is a new opportunity for the forest industry. We are on the cusp of commercialising the results of our intensive efforts to date.” Up to 49% of the NZDFIP Ltd shareholding is on offer to forest growers that have the land, capability, and a strategy to diversify by investing in large-scale planting of the elite durable eucalypts now available. A confidential expression of interest document has been circulated to a number of forestry companies that have shown interest in diversifying with durable eucalypts. “Our plan is to deliver tree-breeding, research and extension services to new shareholders in a similar way to that which the Radiata Pine Breeding Company undertakes for industry. We have exciting plans for more research, and want to focus our communication and education into building the capability needed for a New Zealand durable hardwood industry,” Van Ballekom said. Expressions of interest close 28 March.

Forestry Australia is doing a nation-wide call out for passionate scientists and forestry professionals to take part in its highly sought after Mentoring Program. Source: Timberbiz Forestry Australia CEO Jacquie Martin said the program was a great opportunity to super-charge forestry careers. “The relationship between a mentor and mentee is a powerful thing,” Ms Martin said. “It has the ability to change, shape and motivate both individuals and entire sectors, and that’s exactly what Forestry Australia’s Mentor Program is all about. “The program is carefully designed to pair experienced forestry professionals with those who are seeking to evolve their career in our exciting sector. Over nine months, mentees will expand their forestry and professional skill sets, grow their networks and enhance their careers. “The program has been developed around a framework and tool kit of resources which support participants to set career and development goals; teach time management for life, values and business ethics, forestry skills gap analysis and career planning. “It’s also an excellent opportunity for experienced professionals to give back to the sector by investing their time and sharing their experience with the next generation of forest scientists and forest managers. “I encourage anyone who is passionate about Australia’s forestry sector and sustainable forest management to join the program.” Applications for the Mentor Program are open now, and close on February 4. It is free for Forestry Australia members, and if you’re not a member it’s easy to join here

Forest & Wood Products Australia (FWPA) has announced the first tranche of successful forestry research proposals from the July 2023 open call for proposals. Source: Timberbiz The open call for forestry research proposals attracted 29 responses which were reviewed by a scientific advisory panel of experts and a committee of grower members and were subjected to a benefit cost analysis by an independent economist. Twelve proposals totalling $10m have been approved by FWPA for an investment of $5.5 million through FWPA. The projects will be funded through industry levies, voluntary cash contributions and matching funding from the Australian government, with significant in-kind contributions by industry and research partners. The successful proposals were submitted by nine research providers and involve growers from all major commercial forest growing regions of Australia. The research will address a range of challenges across forest health and biosecurity, plantation silviculture, detection of threatened fauna, impacts of fire, phytosanitary options for log exports, and alternate species from current tree crops – many by harnessing various remote sensing and molecular technologies. There are several proposals still under evaluation, and it is expected that further announcements will be made in coming weeks, following completion of the approval process. “FWPA is proud to continue our support of world class research that will have real and positive impact on the businesses of Australia’s commercial forest managers – research that our members value,” FWPA Forest Research Manager Jodie Mason said. “We thank the many research leaders and industry partners for their considerable efforts in developing high quality proposals and look forward to working with them to implement the projects, commencing in the coming months. Sharon Occhipinti, General Manager Forest Services, HVP Plantations, and an executive member of FWPA’s Grower Research Advisory Committee said that FWPA’s investment in these projects demonstrated how researchers could work with industry to solve problems identified by forest growers. The FWPA Forest Research Program supports collaborative activities that advance research, development, and extension of benefit to Australia’s commercial forest growing sector. The Forest Research Program is aligned with the Forestry RD&E Investment Plans, which were developed in consultation with Australia’s commercial forest growers to inform collaborative investment and identify priority topics.

Tasmania’s $10 million On Island Processing Program is helping boost value-adding of Tasmanian timber across the State, including at Bakes Sawmill which this week opened its upgraded mill at Gowrie Park south of Devonport. Source: Timberbiz Resources Minister Felix Ellis said that, supported by a $147,688 grant from the State Government, the sawmill had successfully completed installation and commissioning of new wood treatment equipment. “This new equipment will re-direct 420 cubic metres of timber per annum to produce treated timber for a range of products, adding value to what was previously chipped residue wood,” he said. Instead, the wood treatment equipment allows Bakes Sawmill to value-add and treat the timber to produce: Building cladding products Building framing timbers for internal and external use Landscaping and garden products in a range of profiles, and Treated natural logs for cabins. Bakes Sawmill is one of seven Tasmanian timber processing facilities to share in a $6 million investment through the first round of the On-Island Processing Program to help the forestry sector turn existing wood supplies, as well as wood residues, into higher-value products. Mr Ellis said that successful local projects are adding value to the current timber harvest, optimising the use of wood residues and waste, reducing the need for imported wood products and supporting the local construction industry. “The program is also helping to improve timber recovery processes that will see more local wood replacing imported timber, increased output of treated pine products and an expansion of the amount of sawn timber and by-products generated from lower grade logs. “Everyone knows the Rockliff Liberal Government is the strongest supporter of the forestry sector which supports more than 5600 jobs in regional Tasmania,” he said. “Tasmanians also know that they cannot trust Labor when it comes to forestry. Given half a chance they will do a deal with the Greens and shut down this industry which is vital to our building sector and also providing fibre for a plastic-free future.”

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has committed to stripping the Environmental Defenders Office of all Commonwealth funding should he win the next election. The EDO, which again began receiving money from Labor last year after a 10-year funding drought initiated by the Abbott government, recently lost a case brought by the North East Forest Alliance (NEFA) against the Commonwealth of Australia and the State of NSW with its lawyers arguing that the RFA should not have been renewed without assessment and approval under federal environment laws. Source: Timberbiz And it lost a landmark case against Santos’s $5.3bn Barossa LNG project, with claims the company’s proposed 262km pipeline off the Northern Territory would cause irreparable damage to First Nations people and their sites being rejected. In that case Federal Court Judge Natalie Charlesworth offered a stinging critique of the claims put forward by the EDO, saying that she had “drawn conclusions about the lack of integrity in some aspects of the cultural mapping exercise, which undermined my confidence in the whole of it”. Mr Dutton, speaking at a Chamber of Minerals and Energy event in Perth, said the EDO’s conduct in the case discredited the non-government organisation and it should be defunded as a result. He said a Coalition government would not allow activists to hold sway over Australia’s industries and economy. And on Monday, Northern Territory chief minister Eva Lawler confirmed she had tasked her environment minister with taking a closer look at its $100,00-a-year contract with the EDO. Shadow Minister for the Environment, Fisheries and Forestry Jonno Duniam welcomed the Leader of the Opposition Peter Dutton’s announcement. “The Albanese Government should never have given the EDO $8.3 million. The only thing that the EDO has done is frustrated our courts and brought important projects to a standstill,” he said. “It is beyond belief that the Albanese Government has undermined Government environmental approvals processes by funding an organisation that appeals these decisions. “The environmental lawfare the EDO has engaged in needs to be called out. Industry partners need to have confidence that they won’t drown in green and red tape when they invest in Australia. But the Albanese Government has instead sent a clear message to partners that they should look elsewhere,” he said. “Labor has not held the EDO accountable for its inexcusable conduct in the Barossa court case and needs to do so.” Shadow Minister for Resources, Senator Susan McDonald said the EDO’s lack of integrity was exposed when Justice Charlesworth slammed it for its conduct in the Barossa court case, highlighting confected evidence and cases of witness coaching. “The Labor Government should not be funding ideological activist organisations to bring forward vexatious claims and launch actions against the government’s own regulator, just to secure votes in inner-city seats under threat from the Greens political party,” she said. “It is time the EDO comes clean and tells the Australian people whether the funding used to attack our vital energy projects was taxpayer money or whether it comes from unnamed foreign donors.”